"Sunderland are not in a good place" - Claim made about Marti Cifuentes as Black Cats eye QPR boss | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

According to Alan Nixon, the Black Cats would have to pay a hefty compensation fee to the London club in order to poach the Spaniard.

But it is understood that he is a popular figure behind the scenes at the Stadium of Light, as the search for Michael Beale’s successor continues.

Beale was dismissed in February after just 63 days in charge of the first team squad, with Mike Dodds overseeing the end of the campaign on an interim basis.

The search for a new head coach has seen a number of names linked, but no front-runner has yet come forward in the race to fill the position.

Cifuentes to Sunderland verdict

FLW’s QPR fan pundit Louis Moir believes that Cifuentes is unlikely to want to trade the club for Sunderland.

He has claimed the circumstances surrounding the Wearside outfit are not favourable, meaning a stay at Loftus Road makes more sense for the time being.

“I think Sunderland are not in a good place,” Moir told Football League World.

“They had a horrific end to last season and would Martí like to join a club like that? On the other hand, we were like that when he came to us.

“I don’t really want to say there’s any chance of him leaving, because I fully believe he will not go unless possibly a club much more stable than Sunderland, or maybe a club who's just gone down or a club who’ve gone up, or a club elsewhere around Europe come in for him.

“You’d be worrying a lot more.

“I don’t think he’ll be tempted, he knows what he’s got going at QPR, there’s such a connection with the fanbase.

“I can understand why certain fans are worrying because obviously what happened with Beale leaving us first thing.

“But I’d be very surprised if Martí was tempted by Sunderland.

“Obviously they’re a bigger club, but with the state that they’re in, it doesn’t look like they’ve got a lot of money either.

“I think they’d have to pay a hefty compensation fee for him, is that going to happen? Realistically not.

“Sunderland don’t seem to have a basis that they can go on, it seems like they need a lot of players, which comes down to money as well.

“And realistically, would Martí leave a club like us, who are on the up and out for a club who are on the total opposite pathway? I don’t think he’d leave, especially to go to Sunderland.”

Martí Cifuentes' QPR record

Cifuentes took over at QPR in late October of 2023 with the team struggling against relegation to League One.

The 41-year-old earned a lot of plaudits for his role in turning things around for the Hoopes, who ultimately avoided the drop in the closing weeks of the campaign.

Three wins from their final three fixtures earned them an 18th place finish in the table, six points clear of the bottom three.

QPR supporters will now be hoping that Cifuentes can continue leading the team on this upwards trajectory into next season.

Cifuentes should commit to QPR for next season

While Sunderland are a big club with a lot of untapped potential, now isn’t looking like the best time to take over at the Stadium of Light.

There is uncertainty surrounding key players like Jack Clare, and it is unclear just how big their budget will be in the transfer market.

Cifuentes is building something exciting at QPR, and he should stick with it for now to see what more he can achieve.

With the right signings this summer, the team could even contend in the top half of the table.